BOMBSHELLS: O’Shea says team better now than it was in loss to Ticats ... Nichols praised by Ticats’ coach ... Leggett, Fenner both listed at SAM

Though they have a 4-3 record, there’s still a line of thinking around CFL circles that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers haven’t really beaten any good teams yet.

Their wins have come against Toronto (two), Montreal and B.C., teams with a combined record of 5-15.

Their losses came against Edmonton (5-2) and Hamilton (3-4).

The Ticats don’t have the greatest record, but they have proven to be a high-powered team in all three phases when they put it together and they hammered the Bombers 31-17 back on June 29.

Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea believes the Ticats will be seeing a very different opponent when they two teams meet again Friday night at Investors Group Field.

“I believe we’ve grown quite a bit, we’re a smarter football team,” O’Shea said. “That football IQ increases with experience and we’ve got some young guys who got some very valuable experience over the last few weeks. I think we’re a better team.”

Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols missed the first meeting with Hamilton due to a knee injury, but he believes the team has a lot to build on after back-to-back lopsided wins over the Toronto Argonauts.

“Overall I feel like we’ve definitely turned a corner as a team,” he said. “Last couple of weeks we’ve kind of shown each other what kind of team we can be. So now there’s kind of that next standard that we want to hold each other to and make sure we play like that week-in and week-out.”

PRAISE FOR PROCESS

Nichols was told by a Hamilton reporter Thursday that Tiger-Cats head coach June Jones said the Winnipeg quarterback processes what’s in front of him in the game the fastest of any pivot in the CFL.

It was high praise, especially coming from a veteran NFL and U.S. college head coach who is famous for running high-powered offences, and also considering that the likes of Mike Reilly, Bo Levi Mitchell and Ricky Ray are still employed in the CFL.

“It’s great to hear,” Nichols said. “That’s been one of my strengths. I’ve obviously competed against a lot of guys that were more physically gifted than me, stronger arm than me. My attention to detail and ability to process things and get the ball out quick has been a strength of mine. To hear that you are recognized by a guy of his stature is great to hear.”

RUST VS. REST

The Bombers are coming off a bye week and sometimes that can cause a team to lose a bit of its sharpness in the next game.

O’Shea doesn’t expect to see anything like that in Friday’s game.

“I don’t think these guys all sat around on the couch and did nothing for an entire week,” O’Shea said. “I think they were active with their families and did various things and came back for the very first practice and proved that they were ready to be back and wanted to be back. With rust vs. rest, rest is always the key. They needed it, everybody in the organization needed it.”

TOO MANY SAMS?

When the Bombers depth chart came out Thursday, it listed both Moe Legett and Chandler Fenner at the strong side linebacker (dime back) position.

Both players are veterans and it seems unlikely one of them will be a backup on Friday, but they’re also both coming off injuries.

Fenner is returning after missing three games with a lower body injury and Leggett missed practice this week with an unknown ailment. Leggett is also coming off a torn Achilles tendon, which cut his season short in 2017.

It’s possible, one of them plays SAM and the other slides into the halfback spot currently occupied by Marcus Sayles, but nobody was providing answers on Thursday.

“I’m definitely a versatile guy and I can go anywhere they need me to go,” Fenner said. “That’s one of the great things about our defence — we have a lot of guys that can go anywhere. Whatever they tell me is what I’m gonna be doing.”

It’s a similar situation with Leggett, who started the season at halfback, with Fenner at SAM, but moved into his more familiar linebacker role when Fenner was injured.

“I love to be out there,” Leggett said of playing SAM. “I’ve had some success in there. But it’s just moving me around and just keeping the guys guessing. It’s just trying different things to see where I fit in at different spots.”

SPOONER SUSPENDED

Bombers offensive lineman Qadr Spooner has been suspended by the CFL for two games after testing positive for an anabolic steroid known as methasterone.

The CFL’s drug policy states that a player testing positive for the first time will receive a two-game ban.

Spooner had been on the Bombers injured list but will now be moved to the suspended list for the next two games, starting with Friday’s home game against Hamilton.

Drafted in the second round in 2017, Spooner has not played a game with the Bombers and has spent most of his time on the practice roster or the injured list.

Moments after the CFL announced the suspension, the Bombers issued a response from general manager Kyle Walters.

“We were informed recently that Qadr Spooner had tested positive for a banned substance,” Walters said. “The Winnipeg Blue Bombers fully support the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs, and trust Qadr will be more conscious of his decisions moving forward.”

Spooner later issued a statement of his own, saying he did not know how the substance got into his body and that he never knowingly took anything illegal.

“I would like to apologize to my teammates, coaches, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers organization and the Bomber fans for this unfortunate incident,” the statement reads.

“I appreciate the support shown through these times and I will learn and grow from this experience. To this day, I am unable to understand how this substance found its way into my body as I have always been very careful in making sure that no banned substance enters my system and make conscious effort to evaluate any supplement that I take. I have never taken any substance with knowledge of it containing a banned substance. However, I accept the discipline set forth by the CFL and will be even more mindful of what I put into my body. I look forward to returning following the suspension and helping this team in its pursuit of a Grey Cup title.”

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